Minnesota tells BigWind to back off, but Ohio wants BigWind closer?

Ohio Senator Cliff Hite is proposing to shorten Ohio’s BigWind setbacks, which is currently set at 1,125 feet. You tell me who looks foolish after reading this article….Senator Cliff Hite or Minnesota residents? It is time for Senator Hite to find a new job, with BigWind, since it his mission to support them over Ohio residents….

When the Coalition for Rural Property Rights stormed the Faribault County Courthouse on Tuesday, it was not an officially licensed organization.

But in claiming support from nearly 90 percent of Pilot Grove Township residents, overflowing the county commissioners room with agricultural advocates and literally standing in unison to plead for greater setbacks and a more restrictive ordinance pertaining to wind turbines in the county, it made its stance as official as could be.

The Coalition brands itself as “a group of Iowa landowners standing against the encroachment of industrial wind installations,” but its representatives at Tuesday’s meeting mostly identified themselves as Pilot Grove residents particularly ones perturbed at a Rose Lake Wind Project proposed by the independent power producer EDF Renewable Energy….

“I come here,” Carr said, “representing and on behalf of about 88 percent of Pilot Grove Township residents, who have signed a petition to increase a setback of commercial wind generators to non-participating residences.”

Saying that current setbacks, which dictate that wind turbines can be placed roughly 1,000 to 1,500 feet from such residences, are “not far enough to prevent material harm” such as added noise, shadow flicker and “a complete change of environment,” Carr asked that local constituents be prioritized over the economic boosts of projects like the one proposed by EDF…

“Most object to an object roughly the size of a Boeing 747, over 400 feet in the air and constantly moving, being placed within 1,000 to roughly 1,500 feet of them,” Carr said. “Without more setbacks for large wind turbines, the county may find itself with more money to spend on a public garage (only) to serve its fewer residents.”

Carolyn Zierke, a local agronomist of 25 years, wondered aloud why counties, especially Faribault County, would even consider uprooting or impeding upon signature farmlands for the sake of wind projects.

“Why are counties overlaying an industrial zone on top of a productive agricultural zone?” she asked. “A turbine is not a piece of farm equipment, and it is not a farm structure.”

If you visit Fairneny — and people are; people from Savoy, in particular, where a wind farm is being proposed — he will likely employ colorful language to explain to you why industrial wind turbines are a bad deal from the standpoint of noise, alleged health risks, and impact on the environment and property values. "We're screwed here," he say […]

WPD Canada has stated that the company’s board of directors have decided not to proceed with an appeal of that decision, and will not be moving ahead with what would have been an eight-turbine project.

The construction of a larger 30 megawatt capacity wind project in the same general area northwest of Kimball where a decommissioned wind project has existed in the past will triple the amount of power generated.